McGuinness on his surprise Clifford-McColgan matchup: 'He passed the test today'

The Ulster outfit overpowered a subpar Kerry in the league decider at HQ.

TOUCH TIGHT: Kerry's David Clifford is challenged by Caolan McColgan of Donegal. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness was satisfied with the job corner-back Caolan McColgan did on Footballer of the Year David Clifford in Croke Park.

The All-Ireland final rematch ended in a one-sided victory for Donegal, who made some surprise calls at the start, including opting to send McColgan after Clifford instead of Brendan McCole. Clifford scored 1-1 in the tie. However, McColgan had his moments as well, stripping him twice and forcing some wayward shots.

McCole took Dylan Geaney instead.

Speaking post-match, McGuinness was asked to explain his thinking behind the move.

“Listen, I don’t really want to, to be honest,” he joked.

“Brendan, Caolan, Peadar, anybody that played in there, they did a really good job. Caolan is very athletic. David Clifford is a very athletic player as well. Caolan has got really good agility, it is a big ask for him obviously. A big task and a big ask but he stuck to the task really well. He didn’t foul. He tried to do the job correctly. He passed the test today I suppose is the way to look at it.” McGuinness started young prospect Max Campbell at centre-back on Sean O’Shea. The Naomh Conaill man kicked three points in a superb display.

Speaking post-match, selector Neil McGee explained Finnbarr Roarty did not start due to illness. He also explained that McColgan, “a dog”, was due to mark Clifford in Ballyshannon but he did not travel for that game.

“But every day, you sit down to pick a team, these are the things that go through your head,” continued McGuinnness.

“I suppose there was less pressure on today in some respects. Max coming in at centre-half back, you can take a risk or a gamble like that, the consequences can be big, but they are not serious or season-ending if you like.

“Listen, every day you go with permutations. We want to look at things as well. We have spoken about that throughout the league. That is what it is about. Look at things, tactically, different players in different positions, it shouldn’t always be about Brendy (McCole) picking up the main man.

“On a given day, there will be two or three or four of those guys. It is not fair. You need two or three man-markers. You need some of them out the pitch as well.”